


Life doesn't come with instructions

by Queens_Prerogative



Series: Now that we found you, you can't just disappear [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex/Willie is pre-relationship, Gen, Good Person Bobby | Trevor Wilson, OFCs are brief, The boys are alive with the sound of music, The show is vague about ghosts so I am vague about living, adjusting to life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:53:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27920311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queens_Prerogative/pseuds/Queens_Prerogative
Summary: The boys don't feel the safety that they were promised until they do. It shows up in fragments, at times when they need it, and before they know it, they're living again.(Technically a sequel to Heartbeat, but can be read as a standalone)
Relationships: Alex & Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Flynn & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: Now that we found you, you can't just disappear [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028221
Kudos: 52





	Life doesn't come with instructions

**Author's Note:**

> The boys are back!  
> TW for Alex having a panic attack in the 3rd section.

“That doesn’t seem like a great idea.”

“Oh, because you’re so full of those?”

“Look, we weren’t exactly given a rule book!”

“So then make your own rules.”

Julie Molina was the kind of roaring fire that Luke had once thought would await him when he died. Having recently been dead, he knew that wasn’t the case, but that didn’t stop Julie from being extremely passionate about their new lives. He had been under the impression – and so were Reggie and Alex, no matter what they said – that there would be some sort of clean slate for everyone when they were brought back.

That didn’t seem to be the case. Julie remembered. Carlos remembered (after admitting that, yeah, he’d eavesdropped and totally knew about Julie’s ghost bandmates). Reggie, Alex, and Luke remembered. So, because of all that, Julie had decided that Bobby must remember too. And she wanted them to _apologise_.

“He got what was coming to him,” Luke said firmly. He folded his arms, partly to emphasise his point, but also because it was weird and nice to feel his own skin properly. Interacting as a ghost with other ghosts meant physical contact, but it was completely different to being human again.

“Yeah, he stole our music!” Reggie added through a mouthful of Tía Victoria’s chocolate chip cookies. They’d been back for two days and Luke was pretty sure Reggie hadn’t eaten anything else.

“You were dead,” Julie said with the same kind of bored impatience parents had when their kids asked for ice cream before dinner. “Maybe just talk to him and find out _why_ he changed his name and didn’t credit you for the songs that made him rich and famous?”

“Julie has a point,” Alex said with a faint smile. “We’ve been given a shot here. Not many people can say they’ve had the same opportunity. So, I think we should try and talk to him. He never got to say goodbye.”

He was using that soft expression that melted Luke’s heart and it wasn’t fair. Reggie groaned, clearly noticing the same thing. Damn it.

“Fine,” Luke agreed. Alex smiled a bit wider.

“Great! Besides, remember what the demon woman said? Sunset Curve weren’t meant to be a thing.” The fact that Alex was using a demon to back up his argument really should have annoyed Luke more. Having met said demon, though, he knew better.

(It was incredibly strange that he’d met a demon).

“Ok. I’m going to call Carrie,” Julie said, grimacing. Apparently, she and Carrie were tentatively repairing their friendship after the performance at the Orpheum. When she left, Luke slumped into the sofa. For a moment, he forgot he wasn’t a ghost and that hitting his head on the exposed back _hurt_.

The last two days had been a learning experience. If they’d thought being ghosts was complicated, being human again was even more so. Even if they didn’t think about literally everything else, the fact that they’d lost their ghost abilities was an adjustment. Julie wasn’t the only one that could see them. And, yeah, they didn’t have a rule book, but they’d managed to work a few things out.

One: they looked the same, but they didn’t. Julie, Flynn, and Carlos recognised them as the former Sunset Curve. Ray and Victoria recognised them as Julie’s bandmates. They didn’t know why or how. Two: they remembered their old lives, and their time as ghosts. Three: they assumed they had some kind of fake history to explain their sudden appearance in 2020 but they had no clue what it was, if it existed.

Ray was letting them stay in the garage. He didn’t seem to have a clue what was going on, but he could join the club. Flynn was apparently a secret agent in a past life and was tracking down their parents. Reggie seemed pretty content not knowing and hanging around with Ray in the kitchen. Alex didn’t talk about it. Luke couldn’t bring himself to face his. He was scared of what he would find. None of that changed the fact that they were three teenagers with no memories of the life they’d been dumped in.

Safe, Amos had said. _Safe my ass,_ Luke thought bitterly.

“Knock, knock,” Ray said, knocking at the same time. They all called for him to come in. He was a good man, Ray Molina. Taking them in like he had, without even blinking, was a balm to the exposed wounds of recent (and not so recent) happenings. “Hey guys, how we doing?”

“Great, thank you so much for asking!” Reggie said, nearly falling over in his excitement. Of the three of them, he was the happiest with being seen properly. “How are you, Ray? Are you getting enough rest? Not working too hard?”

“I’m good, thank you, Reggie. Luke, your grandparents are here.”

Luke dropped his guitar pick. Alex, who’d been inspecting his drums, winced when he hit his head on a cymbal. Crumbs fell out of Reggie’s gaping mouth.

“My . . . who?”

“Your grandparents are here. They seem pretty sorry about the fight.”

“The fight.”

“Yeah. Are you okay?” No. He was _not_ okay. “Look, I’m not saying you should talk to them right away. Family comes in all forms; just because you found a new family doesn’t mean you have to lose your old one.”

That advice would have been very sound if Luke had a clue what was happening. He glanced at Reggie and Alex. Both shrugged quietly, as clueless as he was. Luke sighed. He needed to figure out what his new life was, and it started with whoever was in the house.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he found. His grandparents were his _parents._ Emily and Mitch Patterson were there, in the living room, and they were beaming at him. It completely transformed them. The 25 years of grief that he’d been watching for the past few weeks were all gone. In their place was love and relief and . . . god, he was crying.

“Mom,” he breathed. “Dad.”

“Sweetie, we’re so sorry about what happened. Ray sent us the video of your show at the Orpheum. You are so talented, and we cannot tell you how guilty we felt the moment you walked out that door.”

“Please come home, son.”

“I take it back. You . . . you are my real parents,” he said. Where had that come from? Wherever it was, it was the right thing to say, because he was pulled into their joint hug a moment later. His mom still smelled like freesias and his dad had gotten thinner and they were his _parents_.

“Will you come home with us?”

“Y-yeah. I, uh, I’m sorry about the things I said.” He couldn’t let go, didn’t want to let go. All the things that had been unsaid before. . . “I wish I could take it all back.”

“We know, sweetheart. Julie showed us the song you wrote,” his mom said. She shifted just so that she could cup his cheeks. He couldn’t help the little sob that escaped. He’d missed that so much. “How about a clean slate?”

“Can I – can I call you mom and dad?” He had to be sure. Even though they hadn’t blinked when he’d said it before, and some unseen force had given him the words a minute ago, he just needed that reassurance.

“Absolutely.”

“Then yeah . . . let’s go home.”

XXX

“I don’t get it.”

“You don’t get most things.”

“Why would you put pumpkin in a coffee?”

“Hey, don’t mock the PSL. My mama swears by them. And if mama’s happy, everyone’s happy.” Flynn flipped her braids over her shoulder and pulled the specific face that Reggie had come to translate as “so there”. He grinned into his hot chocolate. “BRB, gotta pee.” She swayed in the direction of the toilets. Reggie looked around.

The coffee place was quite busy, being two o’clock on a Saturday. There was a family in one of the booths. One kid was climbing on a woman’s shoulders, trying to get to one of the generic photographs framed on the wall. Another woman was colouring with a little girl that had a riot of brown curls around her head. In the next booth, there was a crowd of cyclists chatting loudly about chains and spokes. Behind them, a woman had taken up an entire booth herself. There were several neat stacks of paper and they were all exactly the same height.

2020 was fascinating. Cell phones – they were awesome. Apparently coming back to life came with one too. He had a sparkly case for it. Streaming was cool too; millions of songs literally at his fingertips? Hell yes. Language had also come really far. He still didn’t know what woke meant, but neither did Alex, and it was a funny word, so who cared, right? Jeans had gotten a lot tighter. He didn’t know what a hipster was, but Flynn had told him to avoid the coffee place around the corner because of it. Googling . . . he couldn’t get over how many school assignments that would have helped him with. It even did math!

“Excuse me, do you mind if I sit?” He turned quickly at the new voice. There was a heavily pregnant woman standing at his table, a pushchair at her side. She was pretty, pale with very blue eyes and pitch black hair. Reggie instantly stood up and pulled the free chair out for her.

“Sure! Sorry, I’m Reggie, do you need any help?” he asked. The child in the pushchair was maybe around three and giggled happily when he waved.

“Hey Reggie. No, but thank you for the seat. This place is packed today,” the woman answered. He sat back down. The toddler was watching him like a hawk and he pulled a funny face to make them laugh again. “I’m Hunter, by the way. This little one is Mia.”

“Hunter? Awesome name. Hi Mia, aren’t you just the cutest ever?”

“Mama up!” Mia said loudly, raising her arms. Hunter didn’t look able to do much more than sit still. Reggie was weak for kids, so he smiled as reassuringly as he could.

“If it’s cool with you, I can hold her while you chill for a bit?” He phrased it purposefully like a question because what mom wanted some random stranger offering to hold her kid? Even if she’d sat willingly at his table? Hunter carefully looked between her daughter and Reggie. Mia was starting to wriggle.

“Okay. Just don’t leave this table, alright? Our drinks should be here in a minute.” He nodded before crouching next to Mia. “Honey, this is Reggie.”

“Reggie!” Who had given her permission to be so adorable?

“Hi Mia. Is it okay for me to pick you up?” he asked seriously. Mia nodded eagerly and he swept her up into his embrace. Though there wasn’t a huge amount of room, he paced next to the table to get her comfortable. She instantly started chattering his ear off about the moon, which apparently fascinated her.

“Uh, hi?”

“Hey Flynn! This is Mia, and her mom, Hunter. Guys, this is my friend, Flynn.” Though she was frowning in soft confusion, Flynn easily shook Hunter’s hand and let Mia shake her finger. “There aren’t any tables free, so they’re sitting with us.”

“They’ll have it all to themselves in a second. You’ve got practice in twenty.”

“Oh sh-iver me timbers,” he said. Hunter tried to muffle a laugh into her hand but it failed. He grinned, pleased that she found him funny. “I’m sorry to just leave. The guys will understand if I’m late, I can stay and help if you need and-.”

“Relax, you’re fine.” A waitress put down a tray of two drinks and a cookie. Mia nearly took Reggie down in an attempt to reach for the baked good. “Besides, Mia’s going to be distracted for the next while. It was great to meet you. And thank you for sharing your table.”

“No problem.” He put Mia down before she tried to launch herself free. “Bye Mia, enjoy your cookie. Bye Hunter, it was nice to meet you.”

Flynn, to her credit, didn’t ask any questions. When they were 30 seconds late to rehearsal – because Luke was a control freak – they had to explain themselves. Julie found it very cute, so Luke didn’t have any choice but to accept it. Ha. Point: Reggie.

XXX

After a week of being “back from the dead”, the proverbial band-aid was ripped off.

It was weird, waiting to be let onto Bobby’s property. The last time they’d been there, they’d had the advantage of being invisible, dead, and non-corporeal. Still, Ray dropped them off outside and promised to come back when they were done. Alex was very aware that he, Reggie, and Luke were in a rigid line. They walked at the same awkward pace but they had to separate when they came to the narrow steps.

Flynn – there for moral support – led the way down. Julie squeezed each of their arms and followed. Alex was the first of the boys to move, but he could feel Reggie and Luke right at his back. The front door was pretty intimidating; dark wood and a weird handle. Did doorknobs not exist in Hollywood? Or was it just this house? When it opened to reveal Carrie, he only got more tense.

“Hey girl. These three are Luke, Reggie and Alex,” Flynn said. Though awkwardly, they all offered small waves when their names were called. Alex was beginning to feel sick.

“This is super weird and I know it has nothing to do with being fans of my dad,” Carrie said bitingly. She had her arms crossed. Alex fleetingly considered that Cerberus would probably be easier to get past than Carrie Wilson. “But he’s also being super weird. I know it has something to do with you, so come on in.”

“Thanks, Carrie,” Alex said, giving her a tentative smile. It didn’t occur to him until after that he wasn’t really supposed to know her name, but she didn’t question it.

“Can I have some water? The air feels . . . dry,” Flynn said, swaying to the kitchen anyway. Carrie watched her go for a moment.

“My dad’s studio is down the hall, second right. Don’t break anything.” Then she hurried after Flynn. Alex turned to Julie. He kind of felt like a jellyfish was in his chest and his fingers were beginning to tap his thigh in the absence of his sticks.

“Are you guys sure you don’t want me to come with? He’s not expecting you, like, at all,” Julie whispered. She kept glancing furtively at the kitchen. Alex rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and patted her curls with the other.

“We need to do this ourselves,” Luke said, just as quietly. He looked haunted, but then Julie reached for his hand, and he returned to them.

“Alright. Just promise me you’ll call 911 if he has a heart attack?” They nodded, Luke slightly reluctantly. Then they all faced the hallway. It wasn’t that daunting, not really. Except, it was. It was filled with platinum records that were songs Luke had written. Trevor Wilson’s signature and face were everywhere (which seemed really unnecessary and definitely narcissistic to Alex). He felt fingers lace through his and smiled in relief. Luke did the same to Reggie and they took their first steps.

The studio door was open, so at least they weren’t interrupting a session. There wasn’t any noise either. It was sleekly decorated in red (for the control room) and black and white (for the sound room). There were pictures of Carrie everywhere. Some featured a woman that might have been her mom. It was also quite dark. Alex couldn’t see where Bobby was for a good thirty seconds until he looked closer at the recording room. He was sat on a stool with his back to them, staring at a patch of black on the wall. That was when Reggie gasped, so quietly that Bobby wouldn’t hear. He pointed to the mixing table.

To anyone that wasn’t them, it would have seemed like any other decorating choice. But they were them. Alex wouldn’t say he was an expert in studio equipment, but it he was sure that it wasn’t normally so colourful. The gradient went from soft blue, through to yellow and orange, into red, and ended on rich purple.

“Carrie loves that panel.” He’d been dead for 25 years and been a proper ghost for several weeks but _jesus god in heaven_ , that scared the shit out of him. A light flicked on above them. Bobby had left his stool and lingered in the doorway to the recording room. He looked so tired and sad.

“She does seem to love colour,” Alex said, almost like a normal person. Her costumes for Dirty Candy were epic.

“You’ve seen her perform?” Alex nodded. He did not talk about the time he’d joined her on stage because their conversation was already awkward without reminding everyone that they had haunted Bobby when they weren’t even sure he recognised them.

“She’s very talented,” he said instead. Bobby smiled. It wasn’t large or a grin, but it was a proud tilt that spoke of how much he loved his daughter.

“She doesn’t get that from me.” Oh. So, he recognised them, and they were having the conversation. Great. “So . . . you’re all really here.”

“Yeah, we’re alive too, thanks for asking,” Luke said. He was lashing out like a wounded animal. Alex sighed. They needed answers and starting a fight wasn’t going to get them any. Thankfully, Bobby seemed to be on the same wavelength.

“That’s . . . wow, I wasn’t expecting that.” He rubbed his face. “The other night – were you ghosts?”

“Yep. Then we met this demon and Caleb got his ass handed to him verbally, then we were alive. _Crazy_ night,” Reggie said with all of the cheerfulness of a puppy. But Alex could see through that as easily as he now breathed. They were all just as scared as each other.

“I’ll ask about that another time, I think.” Bobby seemed a bit overwhelmed. Alex couldn’t blame him. “It’s really good to see you guys.”

“Wish we could say the same,” Luke snapped.

“That’s fair.” Bobby sat on the arm of a sofa. Taking the cue, Alex sat his jelly legs down on a nearby chair. Reggie launched himself into the sofa. “I’m really sorry for what you’ve come back to. It must look like I totally betrayed you all.”

“It doesn’t just look like you did. You actually did.”

“I can see why you’d think that. But the truth is . . . I had nothing. That night was supposed to be the best of our lives, but it turned into the worst. I couldn’t play for months afterwards because music was what bound us all together. I didn’t want to be reminded that you weren’t there anymore.” That sounded eerily familiar. “When I finally picked up a guitar again, I almost convinced myself you were all there. I chased that feeling. Labels got involved. It was different back then, and the contracts were even more sadistic than they are nowadays. I got trapped in the waves . . . then I just stopped fighting. I thought playing your music would keep that feeling.”

“Then why not credit me?”

“I was trapped,” he repeated numbly. “I was young and naïve and my three best friends were dead. I couldn’t even bring myself to talk about you properly, even to my therapist, not for years. To Hollywood, you were a tragedy. To me, you were something I couldn’t let go of or hold onto all at the same time.”

Silence fell. Alex was sure his heart was breaking. Bobby hadn’t betrayed them. He’d tried to keep them alive.

“We’re sorry,” Reggie said. Alex glanced at him. “We should have never gotten those street dogs.” That managed to get them all awkwardly chuckling, but it was sour. It had killed them, after all. “We’re sorry we left you, Bo-Trevor.”

“You can call me Bobby. I haven’t been called that in a long time, but second chances seem to be going around lately.” He looked at each of them for several seconds, hope laid bare in his gaze.

“Yeah, they are,” Alex said as reassuringly as he could. It would be good to have another friend (or an old friend back?) in the madness that was living again.

“Still can’t believe you recorded _My name is Luke_.” Luke was grimacing by the red portion of the sound panel.

“I really am sorry about that.”

“I forgive you.” Luke stepped up and held out a hand. When Bobby reached out to shake it, Luke yanked him into a hug. Alex and Reggie quickly joined. It wasn’t the same as hugging Julie in a band circle, but it was still good. It was a different kind of coming home.

“Hey, did you at least get a date with that Rose girl? Even if Luke did tell her about the hamburger,” Reggie asked as they separated. Bobby frowned for a second before he burst out laughing. That had not been what Alex expected.

“Uh, no. But she was one of my best friends. She helped pull me out of my darkness.” Uh-oh, past tense. “She died a while back.”

“Wow, sorry, that really sucks.” Especially given he’d already lost three friends. The universe had something out for Bobby, surely?

“It hurt Carrie and Julie more. It tore them apart. I could hardly watch, ‘cause they used to be joined at the hip.” Alex froze. In his peripheral vision, he saw Luke and Reggie go rigid.

“You have _got_ to be kidding me,” Luke whispered.

“That’s the connection,” Reggie said then jumped in glee. “Julie was right; it was her mom!”

“She did like having her way,” Bobby said fondly. Alex smiled to himself. Perhaps they hadn’t just been sent there to help Julie. “Are you guys staying for dinner? It’s takeout night, which means Carrie will want Chinese.”

“Haven’t had a Chinese since 1995, this’ll be great!” Reggie left the studio like a rocket. The other three followed more sedately. As they got to the kitchen, something shattered.

“I told you not to break anything!” Carrie said indignantly.

“Technically, you told the guys not to break anything and that was Julie,” Flynn said like she was trying not to laugh. Julie smacked her with the dustpan she’d grabbed to sweep up the bits of glass.

“Hey Mr Wilson – sorry, Trevor – or Bobby?”

“Why would you call him Bobby?” Carrie asked. Her eyes were narrowed like she was a snake ready to bite.

“And that’s the perfect segue, thank you Carrie,” Flynn said. She was rifling around in her bag and let out a victorious noise when she pulled out . . . a _Sunset Curve_ CD. She removed the booklet and slapped it open on their picture. “What d’ya see?”

“My dad, and three strangers. What’s going on?” Flynn grinned like that was exactly what she’d expected to hear. Alex was _very_ confused.

“I don’t know what kind of freaky magic is involved, but I think the only people that recognise you as the former Sunset Curve are people that knew you were ghosts.” That would make sense; Flynn, Julie, and Carlos all knew them, but the others didn’t. That didn’t explain Bobby, though.

“Bobby didn’t know we were ghosts,” Reggie pointed out.

“You played your little haunted house trick on him.”

“And I saw you at the Orpheum.” Luke choked on air.

“You were there!?”

“Yeah. I saw your video and recognised you. I wanted to know what was up,” Bobby said which, yeah, that was fair. Alex couldn’t really imagine what it would feel like to see your long-dead best friends show up looking exactly the same as when they were alive, only 25 years later.

 _“What is going on?”_ Carrie hissed, shoulders back and skin paler than usual. Alex wanted to hug her but he guessed that would be a bit forward for a complete stranger.

“I need to tell you some things, sweetheart,” Bobby said gently. He held her shoulders. The expression he wore was guilt and love and regret. “Things I should have told you a long time ago; the truth about the music I recorded.”

“That’s our cue to leave,” Julie said, gesturing all of them towards the door. “Thanks for letting us in, Carrie. Call me if you have questions or just want to chat. Guys, let’s go.”

Alex managed to squeeze in a wave on his way out of the door. Reggie beamed and did the same. Luke nodded faintly. It was Reggie that poked his head through the door before it closed.

“Hey, she does get some of it from you.” Alex caught Bobby smiling weakly but gratefully.

Somehow, that had gone better than expected. It felt good.

XXX

Diners would never change. They were a staple. In order to be called a diner, there had to be fake leather booths, a long counter and a daily special. He was sharing a booth with Reggie, Luke and Julie, the latter of whom had insisted they socialise as a group without band practice, now that their lives were on track.

Reggie and Alex had officially moved into the Molina household (neither of them knew how it had happened), Luke was repairing his relationship with his parents/grandparents, and Reggie even had a small income. He babysat for a woman that he met at a coffee shop. It wasn’t much, but it was more than the rest of them earned.

Alex was flummoxed as he looked down at a menu, though. There were so many more options than he was used to; vegetarian, vegan, a huge amount of allergen information . . . the list went on. It was enough to send him edging into panic which was _stupid_ because he knew how to order food and-.

“Hotdog.” Everything stopped. That included his breathing. He glanced to the right and would have fallen right over if he’d been standing. Willie was right there with his sunshine smile and killer eyes and that _hair._

“Yeah, that’s me,” Alex said. He was elated. He could see Willie. Willie was there and calling him that stupid nickname and he could have cried.

“I meant you should try the hotdogs. You looked really confused and I thought maybe you could use some guidance? Cool name, though.” Willie chuckled. Alex was mortified.

“I – what? I can . . . how can I see you?”

“Are you blind usually?” Willie was frowning and that was so wrong. He shouldn’t frown.

“No! He’s just a disaster. Hey, I’m Luke and this is Reggie and Julie.” Luke held out his hand and Willie shook it. “Good to meet you, Willie.” Oh shit.

“I didn’t tell you my name.”

Alex was pretty sure he was going into shock. The back of his neck was sweating to the point where it was trickling down his spine and making him shudder. His chest felt like it was contracting under an intense weight. His skin was crawling and he felt like even the air touching him was invasive. Where was that ringing coming from?

“- and in . . . and out . . . feel us all here, hotdog.” Alex laughed despite having limited oxygen to do so. Slowly, he let the voice pull him back to his body and then very nearly spiralled again. Willie was crouched next to him and he was very close. His eyes were stupidly beautiful. Alex sighed when he evened his breathing. His skin didn’t feel like scales anymore.

“I really hate that nickname.” Willie laughed. It was liquid gold.

“You’re the one that told me it was your name.”

“I – well – I thought you were talking about my stage name.”

“You perform as Hotdog?”

“Not usually.” He had to rescue himself. He did not know how. “Someone I used to know, they came up with it after a bad food poisoning thing. It was supposed to make me laugh.”

“That’s cool. My friends all call me Skids, ‘cause I skidded into traffic and got hit by a car.” Alex stared. Willie didn’t seem to find it weird at all. “I’m alive, obviously. Sometimes little things can make a bad situation better.” That made sense. Alex was smiling, he could feel it.

“My name’s Alex – my real name – it’s Alex. I’m Alex.”

“Willie. Though you already seemed to know that.” He was glancing between them all with something that was almost happy suspicion. It was adorable.

“It’s on your skateboard,” Julie said helpfully. Alex (and everyone else at the table) looked down. Sure enough, Willie’s skateboard was present and scrawled with his name in graffiti print. That was a relief.

“Oh yeah, ha! At least you’re not crazy stalkers.” Alex chuckled nervously. “So, hotdog, when can I see you perform?” He immediately thought about everything that could possibly mean and he ached.

“Gig-.” Alex cleared his throat when the word came out as a squeak. “We have a gig. We play. The band and me, I’m in a band.”

“We’re playing next week at Eats and Beats,” Julie said. “You should follow us on Insta too, all of our info’s on there.”

“Julie and the Phantoms – tell your friends!” Reggie added. Willie grinned at them all.

“I sure will.” When he stood up and swept all of his hair over one shoulder, Alex nearly passed out. “It was nice to meet you. You especially, hotdog.”

“Bye!” Alex managed when Willie was three booths away. When he glanced back and waved, Alex blushed and tried to melt into the booth. He did not look at any of his friends.

“So, that was Willie?” Julie asked. He didn’t need to look to know she was smiling, but it would be the cute one rather than the smug grins he knew Luke and Reggie would have.

“Yep.”

“He’s alive.”

“Seems like it.”

“He doesn’t remember you.”

“Well, he’s never going to forget now,” Reggie laughed. Alex shook his head but he was flying inside. Even if Willie didn’t remember him, they had been given a second chance. He’d never know how or why, but he’d never been more sure of anything before: it was really Willie. They’d found each other again.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. I figured that the show doesn't have set "ghost rules", so I could be shady with the details on resurrection.
> 
> This is no longer a 3-part series because it's seriously getting away from me.


End file.
